Big Horn And Tongue River Football Teams Ready For Road Trips To Torrington And Newcastle

It’s going to be an uneventful Friday night on any high school football field in Sheridan County.

While Sheridan will be on the road against Thunder Basin, Big Horn will make an even longer road trip to Torrington.

The Trailblazers have not been a regular opponent for the Rams in the past, and because they play teams in Nebraska to start the season, Coach Kirk McLaughlin says it can be difficult to get a good read on them.

“Last year went in our favor, and they didn’t make the playoffs last year and they’re bound and focused to make sure that that doesn’t happen again. They want to be in the top of the East, like they were the years before and it’s a tough road trip to go down there and win on the road. We’ve got to focus on us to the extent that we got things to improve on and that we got to bring the right mind set and we got to get off the bus and play. We can’t just show up. We know that they got athletes and they got good size on the line. You don’t know just how good they are until you face them, but that’s why we play the game. You know on paper they look pretty solid.”

Statistically, Torrington is in the middle of pack in terms of total offense and defense in Class 2A, while BH has the top passing attack and 3rd best defense against the run.

Meanwhile, Tongue River will be on the road against Newcastle.

The Dogies have been mostly relying on their rushing attack, which is the 4th best in 2A.

Defensively, Newcastle’s numbers haven’t been much better compared to Glenrock and Upton-Sundance, and Eagles currently have the 2nd best overall offense.

TR also has the #1 overall defense in the state and Coach Steve Hanson says in last week’s game against the Patriots, the defensive unit was surprised a little bit at first, but then the team calmed down and got the shutout.

“They completed a little pass for a couple yards, and then they got a first down and we were like ‘that doesn’t happen very often.’ I think we gave up more first downs against Upton-Sundance than probably anybody this year and we still held them to 8 first downs in the game. So, our defense is playing so well that we’re kind of shocked by a team moving the ball a little bit on us.”

Kickoff for the both the Eagles and Rams against their respective opponents is scheduled for 6pm.